Evil Duke, Please Be Gentle!

"So, you are really going to get married to the crown prince?" asked Lilian as she helped Eli in getting her hair done.

Eli held her dress tightly in her hands as she nodded her head slightly,

"I am not sure, Countess Lilian, but if Andrew would be able to convince his father, then yes. We will get married this autumn." she said in an uneasy voice when the hands of the woman paused, "and i can do my hair, you do not need to stress yourself over such things. You are the mistress of the house."

"I am your mother too." cut the woman Eli between her words, "I know Jane took your maids again and gave them some menial work so they could not help you." the woman sighed as if she was the one being targeted.

"Jane is just insecure from your sudden presence but if you both will spend time together, then you will realize you both have so many things similar and I am sure you will be good friends." Eli looked at the reflection of the lady that called her, her mother now.

It sounded so strange, so surreal that it always made her feel uneasy.

But looking at her hopeful eyes and convincing voice, Eli could only nod.

"Even then, you do not need to help me over little things. I will do it myself. In fact, if you continued to help me by going out of your way, Jane would continue to be jealous of me." she explained to the woman whose grip tightened on her shoulders as if she was holding her favorite toy that was being snatched by her.

"You do not need to be that kind, Eli. You are the eldest daughter of the house. You should think about your comfort too." the woman shook her head and then concentrated on the hair again.

Eli knew that she could not convince her anymore, so she gave up.

"Here, all done." Lilian beamed as she looked at the bun she had made, "it suits you well. Are you going somewhere?" she asked sweetly when Eli nodded.

"Yes, I am going to meet Andrew. He had invited me to the ruby palace." She took out the invitation and showed it to her mother with a stiff smile on her face.

The eyes of the woman sparkled looking at the invitation and she beamed.

"Then why are you being so stiff? He is going to marry you, anyway. You should enjoy this time since being an empress come with so much responsibility that you will not get this precious time again.'' The voice of the woman was full of motherly love and her eyes were staring at Eli as if she was too happy for her that Eli held the side of the chair with so much force, her knuckles turned white.

She looked a bit pale but she nodded her head and took the invitation back from her hands.

Putting it back in her bag, she stood up when the woman realized that the girl already wanted to leave. A look of disappointment filled her eyes, but she hid it soon.

"Then shall I wait for you for dinner?" asked the woman, trying to show her best smile but Eli shook her head again.

"I am not sure what his plan is. So, it would be better that you do not wait for me. I will ask the maids for help if I have a late dinner." she smile but it faltered the smile of the old woman who nodded her head,

"Then I shall leave." she said and turned to leave. Her steps paused near the door but she started walking again slowly.

Eli sighed. She did not know what she should do to make the woman happy without hurting her conscience. She felt that she was betraying an old woman who looked at her with so much hope.

She tugged the neckline of her fitted dress with suffocation. Her eyes closed and opened again.

She stared at the invitation in her hands and her eyes burnt. She felt like her chest was burning badly and she was gasping for water.

No matter how much she tried, she was not able to come out of this swamp.

"My lady!" her head snapped towards the door and adjusted the reaction on her face.

"Madam, asked me to prepare a carriage for you. Are you leaving now or later?" asked the maid in a dull voice when Eli stood up again.

"I will be leaving now. But you do not need to worry, a carriage will come to take me to the palace." she said in a cold voice as she walked out of the palace.

"Oh!" The maid looked confused but nodded her head and left.

Just as Eli walked out of the palace, the carriage was entering her palace. It was a grand one that could not compare to any carriage that was parked in the palace of count.

Jane, who was looking at her from the balcony, gritted her teeth.

"See brother, that woman is trying to show off her relationship with her so-called fiance again! She is such a shameless woman." she could not help but curse the girl she had looked from afar all this time.

"She is only taking the benefit of our family after the tragedy in the family of the duke so that she could marry the crown prince.

Since she did not care about the family where she had spend her life, how could she have affection for our family, yet mother is spending so much time with her.'' She did not care about the money power Eli would bring to their family.

What she hated was they were being used and her mother was paying so much attention to that fraud.

"She had been cheated so many times, yet she did not learn her lesson then we could do nothing. So, stop upsetting yourself over it Jane."